OTHER BREEDS:

One of the longest-crowing poultry breeds on earth with reputed times of up to 60 seconds!

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data and fotos by Salih Morina

Hi Marc,

The Kosova Long-Crowing Rooster is called Drenica rooster (Drenica is province in Kosova).

In many villages like Polac, Terstenik and the city of Drenas (capital country of Drenica Region) has been enough populations of these breeds in the past. Villagers are kept them in their yards.

The DRENICA breed is not profitable regarding the eggs, for this reason many families stopped breeding them and brought in other, egg-laying breeds, which is more profitable, regarding eggs.

This is one reason for their decline; the second reason is, in our country the greater concentration of Kosova people is in the cities, because in the cities it is easier to get jobs. People then lost interest in keeping chickens in the cities.

The DRENICA breed has been raised by enthusiasts who have maintained the breed, and they collected (and are collecting) these breeds from villages to their homes in cities. Some of these people, I would like to mention here are: Jakup Gipsy (now deceased), from Pristina, Ahmet Kasapi from Pristina (also deceased), Sabri also Gipsy, from Pristina, (after the war we do not know where he is). The most important person for this breed is a Mr. Ali from Mitrovica.

Photo courtesy of Salih Morina.

Mr. Ali is one of most famous enthusiasts who has been keeping the tradition of cultivation of this breed. Champions of Kosova long crow roosters have come from his farm in Mitrovica, crowing up to 60 seconds! Mr. Ali is a specialist in knowing which hen with which rooster is good combination. After the war in1999 in Kosova there were not many chickens, but enthusiasts are beginning again to keep this breed.

Mr. Ali from Mitrovica still if one of the best breeders and has other enthusiast which are keeping this race, they are from Polac,Likoshan,Terstenik, Vushtrri, Prishtina and other cities, that I know of.

Regards,

Salih Morino

Photo courtesy of Salih Morina.

Kosovo Longcrower

Kosovo long crower is a breed of the autochthon indigenous chickens in the Republic of Kosovo .

Our ancestors, the Illyrians, were known for breeding purebred animals and that they deserve the greatest merit for breeding poultry and domestic animals in most Balkan countries , especially those areas where they were living.

This indigenous breed of chicken has the origin from Drenica and in most cases it is called the Rooster of Drenica. It is mostly found in the following villages of Drenica : Trstenik , Likoshan , Vrbovc , Polac etc ., where it was bred by the farmers from generation to generation until today. Nowadays, some enthusiasts raise this breed even in cities such as: Drenas , Skenderaj, Prishtina , Vushtrri , Mitrovica , Gjilan , Peja and Gj akova.

Its name was distorted d epending on where it w as found , or depending on the ignorance of those who have found this breed . Taking some of them from Kosovo breeders, e nthusiasts spread t his breed in other areas of the Balkans, therefore it can be found in Macedonia (Tetovo , Skopje ), Bosnia ( Sarajevo, Foq , Zavidoviq ) in Novi Pazar , Preshevo , Bujanovac as well.

The color of the Kosovo Longcrower is exclusively black , with a few red or gold feathers on the wings , whereas the hen is black in all cases. Over time, white spots can occur on its feathers, which is a sign of aging.

It s tail has some longer sword shaped feathers and it is kept straight ( horizontal with the body ). T here is a characteristic “hat” (comb) on its head and there might be two symmetrical short horns on its nose, like the horns of a goat. Its beak is yellow (or gold), or even white , whereas the feet are mainly olive-green, as well as gray.

In most cases their V-shaped comb (crest ) leans forward.

The types that have green feet definitely have a yellow - gold beak and their song lasts, or even exceeds one minute .

When they are born and u ntil they develop feathers, t heir fledglings are dark brown.

In the first year, the hen of this breed lays many eggs , but becoming older it reduces the amount from 50-70 eggs per year . This hen belongs to the breeds that mainly lay a small amount of eggs.

Treat ed with modern medicaments, as well as due to caloric food, this breed has significantly improved its performance in terms of eggs .

Unlike other breeds, hens lay eggs from time to time , but when the eggs are hatched, they manage to guide and protect their fledglings well. They lay eggs for many years, while the size of them increases during this time.

The Roosters start singing by the 5-7 th month of their life , while hens start laying eggs at the eighth month. The Roosters grow up to 3 ,250 kg, while hens grow up to 1.5 - 2 - 2,2 kg .

The main feature of this breed is the long melodic singing , which lasts from 20 sec. to one minute, or it can even exceed one minute .

Their song is usually long and they sing it in a low pitch. These features are in the genes of this breed, therefore no other breed in the world is identical with this one .

During high temperatures in the summer it is preferred to keep them in a cool place, because in some cases that die while singing .

Even the hen of this breed is able to sing with a long melodic voice, especially when laying eggs.

The Kosovo Longc rower is placed in the category of the Longcrowers breed.